NEW YORK, May 9-Cepheid said today that its contract with the U.S. Army's infectious disease research division has been extended for $3.4 million over the next two years.
Cepheid originally signed a $1.8 million contract in 2000 with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease to design and build a portable biological warfare agent detection system. The company delivered a prototype at the close of 2001.
With this contract extension, Cepheid will expand the system for viral detection and sepsis detection. The company will also create an assay that can distinguish virulent and non-virulent varieties of anthrax.
Cepheid is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., and is publicly owned.